With the advances of downhole completion and well monitoring methods, rotationally aligning service strings are beginning to see a growing number of applications for their use. Current generation rotationally aligned equipment, in the form of well monitoring wet connects, are commonly positioned at the top of a lower completion to allow a monitor from the lower completion to be linked to surface equipment. However, these rotational aligned connections are limited to single point in the tool string. Additionally, downhole completion frac pack methods are limited to linear alignment only of a service string to an outer string in current generation completion systems. This introduces difficulties in ways to control erosive flow paths and implement optimal alignment of tool strings to ensure durability for the applicable frac tools. Multizone completions are equally limited in the inability to rotationally align a frac tool with each frac sleeve over the course of several zones. Additionally, deep water completions require the use of indicating tools to identify tool, port, or seal position and prevent unwanted tool movement caused by tubing stretch, rig heave, etc. A common indicator for tool position is a hard boundary encountered by the indicating tool through interaction with a unique profile on the ID of the outer string, which can allow for either setting down weight or pulling on the rental string while the indicating tool is in “Locate Mode.” Manipulation of the indicating tool with an associated profile can be used to cycle the indicating tool to the “Snap Thru Mode,” enabling the rental string to pass beyond the indicating profile. For multi-zone systems, this produces the need to indicate on and cycle through each profile of each subsequent zone, resulting in excess string manipulation when passing through or between zones. This invention provides an apparatus to selectively lock rotationally aligning indicating tools in the “Snap Thru Mode” while tripping both in and out of the lower completion, to allow movement through multiple zones without having to index the mechanism and to provide a positive no-go indication in the axial and rotational direction when each indication boundary is encountered in order to service multiple zones with rotationally aligning equipment.
A tool that selectively unlocks after landing collets in a profile and using a pickup force and spring return to advance a j-slot to selectively align locking dogs with an axial groove has been described in US 2016/0084027, and is fully incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth. In this tool the tool is functional for a downhole operation when the dogs rotate into alignment with an axial slot due to picking up against a spring return force while operating a j-slot. After the operation is completed the spring-loaded collets align with another profile and picking up against the spring force rotates a sleeve having the j-slot so that the locking dogs are again aligned axially with stops between the axial slots so that the inner string is locked against relative movement and can pass to the next zone of interest or out of the hole without needing to be cycled at other locations.
Selectively supported collet fingers made from axial slices into a tube and having an exterior profile on each finger to engage a similar profile in a surround tubular have been made by Baker Hughes, a GE company under the trademark Smart Collet® and the makeup and operation of such collets is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,382,319 and 6,464,006 and is fully incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth.
The present invention combines the selective locking of a tool with spaced profiles in a surrounding tubular as described in US 2016/0084027 with a Smart Collet® with finger profiles on adjacent fingers defining a V-shaped protruding shape to engage a similarly shaped profile on the outer tubular. The V-shapes create relative rotation, if needed for alignment of ports between the inner string and the outer string, for example. Freeing the tool to operate after passing the first profile using a lower j-slot to align dogs with an axial slot allows a j-slot at the upper end of the tool to position a support mandrel with a similar V-shaped profile in alignment with the V-shaped profile on the Smart Collet® fingers so that as the inner string is set down the V-shaped pattern of the collet fingers is supported as rotation, if needed, occurs on setting down weight to land on a V-shaped support profile in the surrounding tubular. After performing the downhole operation such as a gravel pack or a fracturing operation, for example, the tool is picked up through another profile and locked again for transport to another unlock profile where the steps can be repeated or out of the borehole. Certain locations where the unlocking collets do not fit in the outer string profile allow the tool to be pulled past without actuation. Rotational orientation is enabled in a variety of locations as opposed to single location functionality of known wet connect devices.